Mullassery Canal work quality under scrutiny

Kochi: Raising concerns about the quality of work done as part of the Mullassery Canal rejuvenation work under Operation Breakthrough, a slab broke on Friday morning, when a truck drove over it.The incident happened at the eastern end of Fashion Street, close to the busy TD Road, around 10.15am. The incident caused severe traffic congestion in the area. Traffic was restored only in the afternoon after a crane was brought to remove the truck. Later, only single-lane traffic was allowed through the road.Civic activists said that the poor quality of construction resulted in the recently placed slab collapsing when the truck drove over it. "In the past, several vehicles, including trucks, frequently traversed the Mullassery Canal Road as a means to access the TD Road, but no slabs were damaged, posing any threat to the public. However, a newly constructed slab broke when a truck drove over it. People's representatives in the area had earlier approached authorities citing poor quality construction work by the contractor. The contractor carried out the work without adequate machinery, manpower, and expertise. Officers were scared of the contractor. The canal rejuvenation work was supposed to be completed last year. However, the authorities are yet to resume the work citing rains," said Ernakulam Vikasana Samithi president, Dileep Kumar.The samithi demanded that the contractor should be blacklisted for the shoddy construction work and steps should be taken to resume the works under the expertise of experienced contractors. The samithi members have written to the district collector regarding this and have also filed a complaint against the contractor with Kochi police, district administration, and Kochi corporation.However, irrigation department officials claimed that the damaged one was an old slab they had placed temporarily between the old and newly constructed canal area to facilitate traffic movement. "We cannot finish the construction of the new slab works in that area. There is a gap between the old and newly constructed pathways of the canal. We placed an old slab over the gap to facilitate traffic movement. The slab that broke on Friday morning was an old one. The old slabs will be removed completely to continue the work in the next phase," claimed an irrigation official.A total of 829m of the canal has to be reconstructed by the irrigation department under Operation Breakthrough. However, the structural works along 400m are yet to be completed. The rejuvenation work was suspended last year due to the presence of sewerage lines of the KWA and underground cables of KSEB in the area. The irrigation official said they can resume the work only if the cables and the sewerage lines are removed from the area.